Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)

And we're back to the evil Santa films, this time we're going to Finland to see their take on the genre. Look at the cover, this film was going to be either really good, or really bad.

Here a group of scientists excavate a burial site and unwittingly unleash the horrors of Santa, a being who took bad children and punished them, with one picture in the film showing Santa dunking a child into a boiling cauldron. Pietari (Onni Tommila) tries to convince his father (Jorma Tommila) and his friends but it isn't until they catch Santa in a spike pit.

And...this is really entertaining.

The story, I would say is ordinary and new but, come on, I've reviewed 'Santa's Slay' and 'Saint' this month, an evil Santa isn't new. I suppose the way the do the story though is new. It certainly plays well to both the horror and humorous aspects, even if bits are quite creepy.

The directing is superb. There are remnants of other horror classics like 'The Thing', the tension is built up brilliantly, there's a sense of not knowing for sure what is going on, despite it being glaringly obvious. It didn't really come off as a comedy to me, I guess it was a bit too dark for that, but believe me it's still brilliant.

Now the acting is really good, everyone is believable in their roles. I have to give a special nod to...Peetar Jakobi I think (IMDB lists him as Pietari's *SPOILERS*), who is quite possibly portrays one of the creepiest characters I have ever seen in cinema history. Onni Tommila meanwhile, well, I'll admit that he was very good for a kid, but I still hated the character, primarily because he came off as a know it all who looks down on everyone. Yes he was right, but that's not the point. Apart from that nitpicking all the characters were likable.


The effects were kept to a minimum, and for good reason in most places. Oh yeah, explosions were perfect, but then there are some things like Pietari on a helicopter being chased by Santa's followers, again it's my main criticism on CGI, it just looks fake.

But again, this film is highly entertaining. The acting is great, the effects are given the less-is-more treatment, the story is refreshing and, yes, brilliant, and the directing is really good. Really, if there's one film about an evil Santa you should watch, choose this one.